The subject matter herein relates generally to electrical connectors, and more particularly to electrical connectors having contact modules.
Some electrical systems utilize electrical connectors to interconnect two printed circuits (sometimes referred to as “circuit boards”) to one another. In some applications, the printed circuits are oriented orthogonal to one another. To electrically connect the electrical connectors, a midplane printed circuit is provided with front and rear header connectors on opposed front and rear sides of the midplane printed circuit. The midplane printed circuit may be orthogonal to both of the printed circuits being electrically connected. The front header connector receives one of the electrical connector and the rear header connector receives the other electrical connector. The front and rear header connectors each include pins that are connected to corresponding mating contacts of the electrical connectors. The pins of the front header connector are electrically connected to the pins of the rear header connector by the midplane printed circuit. For example, traces are routed along and/or through the midplane printed circuit to electrically connect corresponding pins with one another.
Known electrical systems that interconnect two or more printed circuits through a midplane printed circuit are not without disadvantages. For instance, known electrical systems are prone to signal degradation due to the number of mating interfaces provided between the printed circuits that are being connected. For example, along the signal path from a first printed circuit to the a second printed circuit includes an interface with the first electrical connector, the mating interface between the first electrical connector and the first header connector, an interface between the first header connector and the midplane printed circuit, an interface between the midplane printed circuit and the second header connector, a mating interface between the second header connector and the second electrical connector, and an interface between the second electrical connector and the second printed circuit. Signal degradation may be inherent at each of the interfaces described above. Additionally, some signal degradation is inherent along any portion of the contacts, pins and traces defining the signal path between the two printed circuits. The signal degradation problems may be particularly noticeable at higher signal speeds.
Other problems with known connector systems that utilize a midplane printed circuit include the cost of the midplane printed circuit and the cost of the front and rear header connectors. Thus, the interconnection of printed circuits with minimal signal loss remains a challenge.